Whether you adhere to Malcolm Gladwell’s highly touted 10,000-hour rule, believing it’s the key to gaining expertise in any particular area, pretty much everyone can agree that regularly practicing a series of good habits can eventually hand you the tools to be successful.

While the 10,000 rule has recently come under some scrutiny, encourage your team to adopt some solid sales techniques and practice them on a regular basis. Here are 5 that could help them get out of a rut or take their sales to another level.

Prospect. Every single workday. Use social networks, referrals and other prospecting sources to constantly build up your list. There can be the temptation to take a look at your list and consider it “good enough.” Take steps to build up the list with a variety of new sources, taking the time to make sure that they fit your target market. Otherwise, you could just be wasting your time. And don’t neglect networking opportunities that will get you face to face with potential clients. These provide the type of human interaction that can’t be achieved online.

Narrow your focus. In addition to determining the “fit” of new prospects, also take time to whittle down your list. If you notice that there’s a pattern in which certain types of prospects just don’t seem to fit the profile of your ideal client, whether because of industry, needs or budget, don’t hesitate to streamline your list so you can devote more time to prospects that are more like to purchase. According to Gleanster Research, only 25 percent of your leads are actually legitimate. Trim your list so that you can focus on the ones that are more likely to fit your customer profile.

Follow up. Here’s another stat that should make you think twice: If you’re like the average sales person, you’re giving up on a prospect after making only to attempts to reach them when actually you need 11 interactions before the deal is done, according to Sirius Decisions. On the other hand, another study revealed that an overwhelming number of sales had required at least 5 follow-up calls, as indicated by the Marketing Donuts.

Make those calls. It can be grueling, but devote a chunk of your time each day to making old-fashioned sales calls. According to Hunter, this process can help you turn warm leads into warmer leads. If a prospect is not yet ready to purchase, schedule an appointment to get back in contact after several weeks or months. Remember, it can take more than a year for a prospect to finally say yes.

Work with your marketing team. Spend more time collaborating with your company’s marketing team to ensure that you’re developing the type of content that is resonating with potential clients. A Corporate Visions survey noted that 80 percent of sales and marketing teams didn’t think their demand generation projects were effective. In many cases (37 percent), they didn’t think the content was engaging enough, while 9 percent said they just didn’t have enough content.

Incorporate MonsterConnect as part of your sales prospecting solutions. Our team makes those initial cold calls until we can connect your sales reps with key decision-makers, freeing up their time to devote to more significant tasks. Contact us to find out how our sales prospecting enablement tool can help you win more sales.

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